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This study reports on the use of the Child Behaviour Checklist for children aged 4-18 (CBLC/4-18) as a tool for creating typologies for children and relating these to foster care outcomes. Findings regarding outcomes were consistent with previous studies that focused on child variables rather than profiles, however profiles do appear to be helpful with identifying to categories of children who are most vulnerable to foster placement breakdown: withdrawn children and aggressive-delinquent children.KEY WORDS: foster children; outcome; typology.If parents are no longer capable of rearing their child, the child may be referred to some form of foster care. Traditionally, foster care used to be provided as a long-term settlement for the child. In the course of time new forms of foster care have been developed, such as temporary foster care as a way of crisis intervention (duration of the child's stay in the foster family is restricted to three months) and therapeutic foster care (these foster children have more severe problems than those in long-term foster care). According to McAuley and Trew (2000) the most striking problem of long-term foster care is the high rate of breakdowns, that is unfavourable terminations of care, which varies between 20 and 50%, depending on the geographical region concerned. Breakdowns usually have a negative affect on foster children. Larsson, Bohlin, and Stenbacka (1986) suggest that a premature termination may induce the child to develop more emotional and behaviour problems, which in turn trigger more premature terminated placements and consequently more and more emotional and behaviour problems. Children without problem behaviour also show an increased risk of emotional and behavioural problems after placement in another foster

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